New SAT Writing Workbook Episode 2 Part 4 pps

6 All of these unfortunate events can be eliminated by the knowledge of the appli-cable foreign language.. 19 Of the students who do learn a foreign language less than 20 percent can sp

38 Driving down the freeway, there blew the

most noisy car horns that I had ever

encountered

(A) there blew the most noisy car horns

(B) I heard the most noisy car horns

(C) there were the noisiest car horns

(D) the most noisy car horns blew

(E) I heard the noisiest car horns

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IMPROVING PARAGRAPHS

Instructions: The selections below are unedited drafts of students’ essays Carefully read each

essay Sections of each essay need to be rewritten to make the meaning clearer and more

precise

Each essay is followed by a series of questions about changes that might improve all or part of itsorganization, development, sentence structure, language usage (diction), audience focus, or use

of the conventions of standard written English

Choose the answer that most clearly and effectively expresses the writer’s intended meaning.Indicate your choice by filling in the appropriate oval on the answer sheet

Questions 39 through 44 are based on the

following first draft of an essay, which is a

response to an assignment discussing foreign

language

(1) You are in a foreign country and your

money is stolen (2) You go to the police, but

they do not speak English (3) You lose your

belongings in a Chinese railroad station.

(4) You complain to the authorities, but they

don’t understand English (5) In Paris you

order veal for dinner but get sweetbreads

instead (6) All of these unfortunate events can

be eliminated by the knowledge of the

appli-cable foreign language.

(7) This type of verbal mistake is not

isolated to the ordinary American citizen.

(8) A former United States Department of State

official went to Japan (9) She intended to say,

“Your country is beautiful.” (10) It came out as

“Your country smells like a horse.” (11)

Ameri-can companies are not immune from

lan-guage mistakes (12) One of the most

publi-cized corporate language errors involved

General Motors (13) When the company

introduced its Nova car in Latin America, it

did not sell up to expectations (14) The

company eventually learned that one of the

reasons was Nova means “no go” in Spanish.

(15) These and other fiascoes point out

the lack of understanding of foreign languages

by Americans (16) In Europe most students

learn two foreign languages (17) In the United

States it is likely that students have not learned any foreign language when they graduate from their high school (18) Admission to

college does not require a foreign language for

90 percent of the colleges (19) Of the students

who do learn a foreign language less than 20 percent can speak it well.

(20) In today’s global marketplace most

business executives recognize the need to communicate with their customers in a language that they understand (21) Non-

English speaking customers are more able talking in their own language (22) Prob-

comfort-lems can develop when important elements of

a contract need to be translated (23) The

bottom-line benefit to an employee who can speak a foreign language is greater pay and opportunity.

PRACTICE EXERCISE SET 1

39 Taking into account paragraph 1 in its

entirety, which of the following is the best

revision of sentence 6?

(A) Knowledge of the applicable foreign

language could eliminate all of these

unfortunate events

(B) Having knowledge of the applicable

foreign language can eliminate all of

these unfortunate events

(C) Knowledge of the applicable foreign

language can eliminate all of these

unfortunate events

(D) A way to eliminate these unfortunate

events is through the knowledge of

the applicable foreign language

(E) Elimination of these unfortunate

events is through the knowledge of

the applicable foreign language

40 As the introductory sentence of paragraph

2, which of the following is the best

revision of sentence 7?

(A) Mistakes of the verbal kind are not

only for the ordinary American

citizen

(B) Ordinary American citizens are not

the only ones who make verbal

mistakes

(C) The making of verbal mistakes can be

seen in American citizens who are

not ordinary

(D) American government and business

officials also make verbal mistakes

(E) Verbal mistakes can be found with

Americans other than the ordinary

ones

41 In the context of paragraph 2, which is the

best condensation of sentences 12, 13,and 14?

(A) When selling Nova cars in LatinAmerica, General Motors did not sellmany because “no go” is nova in theSpanish language

(B) General Motor’s Nova car did not sellwell in Latin America because thecar’s name means “no go” in Spanish.(C) In Spanish, “nova” means “no go” sothe General Motors car with the samename did not sell well in Latin

America

(D) Meaning “no go” in Spanish, theGeneral Motors car having the samename sold poorly in Latin America.(E) Latin American sales of a GeneralMotors car Nova had not been sellingwell because the name means, “nogo” in Spanish

42 Which of the following is the best revision

of sentence 18 in paragraph 3?

(A) Knowledge of a foreign language isnot required for admission to 90percent of colleges

(B) 90 percent of colleges do not requirethat you know a foreign language.(C) Getting admitted to college hasn’t arequirement of a foreign language 90percent of the time

(D) College admission does not requirethat you know how to speak aforeign language 90 percent of thetime

(E) Having a knowledge of a foreignlanguage doesn’t help gettingadmitted to colleges 90 percent ofthe time

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43 Which of the following is the best revision

for the underlined portion of the following

sentence?

In today’s global marketplace most

business executives recognize the need to

communicate with their customers in a

language that they understand.

(A) the need to communicate with one’s

customers in a language that they

understand

(B) the necessity of language in

commu-nicating their ideas

(C) the ability to communicate with their

customers in a language that they

understand

(D) that their communication with their

customers is related to understanding

a foreign language

(E) the need to communicate in a

language that their customers

understand

44 Based upon the essay in its entirety, which

of the following best summarizes thewriter’s comments in the last paragraph?(A) The goal of business is to improvecommunications with their custom-ers As a result, bilingual employeeswill be paid more money than thosewho don’t speak a foreign language.(B) Foreign language is important tobusiness

(C) Most foreigners prefer communicating

in their own language

(D) Employees can make more money ifthey understand a foreign language.They can do this because theircompanies focus on communications.(E) Companies that have employees whocan communicate in foreign lan-guages have an advantage Theseemployees can personally benefitfrom their foreign language skills.PRACTICE EXERCISE SET 1

Questions 45 through 50 are based on the

following first draft of an essay, which is a

response to an assignment discussing health

(1) “My grandfather lived to be a hundred

and one (2) What do I have to worry about?”

says one of my friends (3) Another is a junk

food addict who advocates the position “So

what if I get sick! I have sick days and good

insurance.” (4) There is a young smoker who

says, “By the time I’ve smoked long enough to

get lung cancer, they will have found a cure

for cancer.” (5) All these people they have

optimistic outlooks on life (6) The problem is

that they are not taking responsibility for their

own health (7) Our choices and our lifestyles

have a significant impact on our health.

(8) There are a number of myths that

exist about our health (9) What about

hered-ity? (10) It is true that genetics and heredity

play a key role in our health (11) For

ex-ample, children of long-lived parents are

statistically more likely to live longer than

those of early dying parents (12) There is,

however, no way to tell if the genes that are

passed along from parent to child are the

specific ones that will yield a long life for the

child (13) The view of some that medicines

will be discovered to correct all diseases is an

equally unfounded myth (14) The mere fact

that medicines have been found to combat

illnesses in the past is not a predictor of future

medical discoveries.

(15) The real question becomes—why rely

on someone else’s actions rather than taking control of your own life? (16) It is within our

control to create a healthy lifestyle (17) So

what can we do to get a long healthy life?

(18) The first thing to consider is the

recom-mendations of experts.

(19) One of the first things told to us by

the experts is to maintain lifelong activity.

(20) Regular exercise not only stimulates the

cardiovascular and pulmonary functions, but also it has been found to improve the strength

of our bones.

(21) The second thing to focus on

accord-ing to the experts is diet (22) We should work

to reduce our consumption of fatty and processed foods (23) High intake of these foods

increases the risk of heart disease and some forms of cancer.

(24) The last area to address covers the

avoidance of those lifestyle choices that are known causes of death (25) The most obvious

of these is smoking (26) The relationship

between smoking and disease, particularly coronary heart disease and cancer, is ex- tremely well documented (27) The decision not

to smoke is ours, and ours alone (28) We can

take control of our lives by making that one healthy choice.

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45 Which of the following is the best revision

of sentence 5?

(A) All these people have optimistic

attitudes about life

(B) The people have something in

common—optimistic attitudes

(C) All these many people share

optimis-tic, cheerful attitudes about their

existence in the world

(D) Optimistic attitudes are shared by all

of these people

(E) What do these people have in

common? Totally optimistic attitudes!

46 What is the most effective way to combine

sentences 8, 9, and 10?

(A) Heredity and genetics are not a myth,

they play a key role in our health

(B) While many myths exist about our

health, heredity and genetics play a

key role

(C) Heredity and genetics play a key role

(D) Health myths are not true, because

heredity and genetics play a role in

our health

(E) Heredity and genetics, not myths play

a key role in our health

47 Which is the thesis statement of this essay?

(A) For example, children of long-lived ents are statistically more likely to livelonger than those of early-dying parents.(B) For example, children of long-livedparents are statistically more likely tolive longer than children of earlydying parents

par-(C) For example, children of long-livedparents are statistically more likely tolive longer than children of short-lived parents

(D) For example, children whose parentslived a long time are statistically morelikely to live longer than those who’sparents die young

(E) For example, children whose parentslived a long time are statistically morelikely to live longer than childrenwhose parents die young

49 The writer used which of the following

types of development in this essay?

(A) Definition(B) Spatial(C) Compare and contrast(D) Argument and proof(E) Chronological

50 Which of the following best describes the

(E) Clarify the thesisPRACTICE EXERCISE SET 1

Practice Exercise Set 1

ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS

excel-Demonstrates good command of the conventions of En- glish; good writing competence; less thorough and inci- sive than the highest essays

Demonstrates equate command of the conventions of English; competent writing

ad-Demonstrates fair command of the conventions of English; some writ- ing competency

Demonstrates little command of the conventions of English; poor writ- ing skills; unaccept- ably brief; fails to respond to the ques- tion

Lacking skill and competence

Exhibits excellent perception and clar- ity; original, interest- ing, or unique ap- proach; includes apt and specific refer- ences, facts, and/or examples

Exhibits good ception and clarity;

per-engaging approach;

includes specific references, facts, and/or examples

Clear and tive; somewhat in- teresting; includes references, facts, and/or examples

percep-Somewhat clear but exhibits incomplete

or confused ing; dull, mechani- cal, overgeneralized

think-Very little clarity;

confusing; flawed logic

Very confusing or completely off the topic

Meticulously nized and thor- oughly developed;

orga-coherent and fied

uni-Well organized and developed; coherent and unified

Reasonably nized and devel- oped; generally co- herent and unified

Moderately nized and devel- oped; some incoher- ence and lack of unity

orga-Little or no tion and develop- ment; incoherent and void of unity

organiza-No apparent zation or develop- ment; incoherent

Effectively varied and engaging; virtu- ally error free

Varied and ing; a few errors

interest-Adequately varied;

some errors

Moderately varied and marginally inter- esting; one or more major errors

Little or no tion; dull and unin- teresting; some major errors

varia-Numerous major errors

Word Choice

Interesting and fective; virtually error free

ef-Generally ing and effective; a few errors

interest-Occasionally esting and effective;

inter-several errors

Moderately dull and ordinary; some er- rors in diction

Mostly dull and ventional; numerous errors

con-Numerous major errors; extremely immature

Instructions: Rate yourself in each of the categories on the rubric Circle the description ineach category that most accurately reflects your performance Enter the numbers on the linesbelow Then, calculate the average of the six numbers to determine your final score On the SAT

I, at least two readers will rate your essay on a scale of 1 to 6, with 6 being the highest Because

it is difficult to score yourself objectively, you may wish to ask a respected friend or teacher toassess your writing to reflect more accurately its effectiveness

SELF-EVALUATION Each category is rated 6 (high) to 1 (low) Overall Impression

Thesis and Purpose Organization and Development Use of Sentences

Word Choice Grammar and Usage TOTAL

Divide by 6 for final score

OBJECTIVE EVALUATION Each category is rated 6 (high) to 1 (low) Overall Impression

Thesis and Purpose Organization and Development Use of Sentences

Word Choice Grammar and Usage TOTAL

Divide by 6 for final scorePRACTICE EXERCISE SET 1

Number Incorrect

Identifying Sentence Errors,Questions 1–20

Improving Sentences,Questions 21–38Improving Paragraphs,Questions 39–50

Where do you need to improve?

Spend more time working on that area See Chapters 7 through 9 forhelp with grammar, mechanics, punctuation, usage, and sentence andparagraph structure

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ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS

IDENTIFYING SENTENCE ERRORS

1 The correct answer is (D) The pronoun reference should be

to the singular no one.

2. The correct answer is (B) The comparative tougher should

be used

3. The correct answer is (D) Use the adverb beautifully to

modify the verb Adverbs modify verbs Adding -ly usually turns

an adjective into an adverb

4 The correct answer is (C) The verb should be past tense

found.

5 The correct answer is (A) The correct contraction for the

expression it is is it’s.

6 The correct answer is (C) The punctuation is incorrect A

comma, not a semicolon, should be used with a conjunction

7 The correct answer is (E) Verb tenses, pronoun antecedent,

and the from–to construction are all correct.

8. The correct answer is (B) The verb should be the singular is

since the subject is singular variance.

9 The correct answer is (D) The verb should be in the present

tense, go See Chapter 7 for a list of irregular verbs to learn.

10 The correct answer is (B) The pronoun should agree with the

plural noun most.

11. The correct answer is (C) The adverb for cruelly should

modify the verb laughed.

12 The correct answer is (D) This sentence contains a double

negative To eliminate it, use a instead of no.

13 The correct answer is (E) All punctuation is correct The

subordinate clauses correctly modify elements in the mainclause

14 The correct answer is (A) The wording creates a dangling

participle because it lacks a noun or pronoun to modify

15 The correct answer is (B) The verb must match the plural

subject of the sentence dorymen.

16 The correct answer is (D) The possessive should be the

singular player’s.

PRACTICE EXERCISE SET 1